whoda thunk?

I've been wading through this week's slew of costuming list email - yes, it probably WOULD be easier if I read it as it came in, but I hate to just skim these.

Careful reading pays off: the discussion on one list has turned to controversies over grave excavation and someone provided the list to Internment.net a searchable database of cemetery transcripts. If you're doing geneological research or just like local history, this is your place, but what really caught my eye was the link in the lower-left corner, How To Record a Cemetery.

I don't think it had ever occurred to me until this moment that - yeah, in order for this information to be available, someone has to go out there and walk through, row by row, and write down what (if anything) they see. And yes, probably a lot of this is done by volunteers, because I can't imagine most municipalities/churches/other older burial sites having the people or resources to fund this activity.

Hmm. So, transcribing cemeteries. Very apropros for the season, maybe a way to get involved with one's local history. Very cool :)